Bath-mittew



. ELLIS.

BATH MITTEN.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 7, 1915.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

@Wees:

UNITED STATES PATENT @FFTQE.

JOSEPH ELLIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

BATH-MITTEN.

Application filed August 7, 1915.

7 '0 all whom it m a womzern:

Be it known that I, Josurn ELLIS, a citi zen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of (ook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bath-Mittens, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to bath mittens, and has for its object the provision of a mitten, glove or the like, of spongy material provided with a reinforcement of comparatively tough material.

A further object is the provision of a simple and eflicient article of the character mentioned.

Other objects will appear hereinafter.

A mitten made in accordance with my invention is shown in the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 shows a bath mitten made in accordance with my improvement; Fig. 2 is a section of the same taken on line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a View of the material from which a mitten is made, in a partially completed state and having a form therein, and Fig. 4 is a section taken on line l4 of Fig. 3.

Sponges of various sorts have been used as toilet articles, and especially for use for bathing purposes, and it is the purpose of this invention to provide a sponge which will be easily held on the hand, in use.

I preferably make this mitten of rubber, but it may be made of other suitable substances when so desired, without departing from my invention.

The mitten preferably comprises a spongy body 5, made of porous rubber having a substantially tough lining 6 formed on the inside of the mitten and preferably integral with the porous material 5. The lining or skinlike portion 6 is comparatively tough, and prevents the mitten from losing its shape and from easily tearing. I find it advantageous to provide a covering 7 on the outer side of the mitten around the wrist portion thereof, and this portion 7 is preferably a continuation of the lining 6. The provision of the reinforcement or covering 7 prevents the wrist inlet of the mitten from becoming easily torn in use. I find it advantageous to provide a covering 8 at the juncture of the thumb and finger portions of the mitten to reinforce the mitten at this point. In use, it is found that great strain is placed on these portions of the mitten,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

Serial No. 44,152. i

and in order to prevent the mitten from tearing, I provide a coating of rubber or the like at this portion.

In making up the mitten, I preferably use raw rubber which is thoroughly worked or mixed in a manner well known. In this raw rubber suitable coloring matter is mixed in the conventional manner to give the finished article its desired color. Also mixed in the rubber is any one of the well-known materials which are adapted to become gaseous upon the application of the heat used in curing or vulcanizing the rubber. These materials which become gaseous during the vulcanizing process are well-known to those versed in the art, and have been commonly used heretofore in producing various forms of sponge rubber, which is a common commercial article. The gas-forming material may be used in the liquid or finely pulverized solid states, and a suflicient quantity used to make the finished rubber article quite porous. This gas-forming material is mixed in the rubber so that it is divided into Very small particles, and the particles separated from each other by thin films of rubber. As the rubber is vulcanized and the gas formed from the gas-producing material, the gas forms in small bubbles, and the films of rubber between the bubbles form cellular walls separating the bubbles of gas, so that after the article is vulcanized the rubber will be one mass of thin cellular walls with a comparatively thick skin or coat on its sides, which come in contact with materials to which the rubber will not adhere, such as steam or a mold used in curing the rubber.

In making up a mitten, or the like, I preferably take two sheets of the raw rubber mixture of substantially the form of the finished mitten, but considerably smaller, and place between these sheets a sheet of material 9 of the configuration of the hollow portion of the mitten. The sheet of material 9 may be a sheet of cardboard, zinc plate or the like, and is formed slightly smaller than the sheets of raw rubber above mentioned, so that edges 10 of the sheets of rubber will extend beyond the edges of the sheet 9. The edges 10 of the sheets of rubber are pressed together before vulcanizing, and during the process of vulcanization are vulcanized together, forming the two sheets in a single mass with an opening between them corresponding to the sheet 9. It is understood that a glove might be made by providing a sheet having portions cut away to represent the fingers of a hand, and such a sheet placed between the sheets of rubber.

The raw rubber compound may be vulcanized by means of the dry process or steam process, both of which are well known in the art of vuleanizing rubber. I prefer, however. to use the steam process, and in the use of this process the raw rubber mixture is placed in a suitable oven and steamed under pressure admitted to the oven. Suflicient pressure is given the steam so that the rubber mixture will not materially increase in size due to the formation of the gas bubbles during vulcanization. After the rubber mixture or compound has been thoroughly cured or vulcanized, it is removed from the oven and permitted to cool. Upon being released from the steam pressure the gas bubbles cause the mitten or rubber article to expand to a considerably larger size. and upon becoming cooled these gas bubbles contract somewhat, thereby decreasing the size of the mitten.

In order to remove the gas fromjthe cellular rubber construction of the glove, I break the walls of the cells and release the gas therefrom. This is easily done by running the rubber containing the bubbles of gas through a pair of rollers, not shown, wher upon the rollers cause the gas to break through the cellular walls and be squeezed from the rubber. Upon the rubber passing through the rollers it again resumes its normal size, due to the resiliency of the rubber itself. This increasing in size of the rubber again, causes air to be drawn into the cells formerly occupied by the gas bubbles, through the broken walls of the cells, and provides a very efficient sponge material.

The outer surface of the rubber which was in contact with the steam during the vulcanization, and the inner side thereof which was in contact with the form 9, have somewhat thick coats or skins of rubber formed thereon. These skins of rubber serve to reinforce the mitten, but the outer skin prevents the ready ingress and egress of water to and from the sponge. I, therefore, remove the outer skin by shearing the same. This shearing gives the mitten an appearance closely resembling an ordinary sponge, and permits water to enter and leave the sponge freely. In removing the outer skin from the mitten I preferably leave a portion thereof around the wrist'opening as indicated at 7, and another portion at the juncture between the thumb and finger portions of the glove. These portions of the outer skin which are left serve to reinforce these portions of the mitten, thereby preventing such portions from becoming easily torn, and since they are only small portions they do not materially hinder the passage of water into and out of the glove in use.

lVhile I have illustrated and described the preferred form of my improvement, I do not desire to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself'of such variations and changes as come within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bath mitten comprising a mitten formed of spongy material, and a lining of a more compact and tenacious material on the inside of the mitten integral with the spongy material.

2. A bath mitten comprising a mitten formed of spongy material, and a lining of a more compact and tenacious material on the inside of the mitten, extending over the outer side of the spongy material for a short distance around the wrist opening of the mitten, said lining being integral with the spongy material.

3. A bath mitten comprising a mitten formed of spongy material, a lining of a more compact and tenacious material on the inside of the mitten integral with the spongy material, and a tough covering reinforcing the outer side of the mitten at the juncture of the thumb and finger portions of the latter and formed integrally with the spongy materiaL- 4. A bath mitten comprising a mitten formed of spongy material, a lining of a more compact and tenacious material on the inside of the mitten, extending over the outer side of the spongy material for a short distance around the wrist opening of the mitten, said lining being integral with the spongy material, and a tough covering reinforcing the outer side of the mitten at the juncture of the thumb and finger portions of the latter and formed integrally with the spongy material.

5. A bath mitten comprising a mitten of rubber sponge, a tough rubber coat lining the inner side of the mitten and extending out on the outer side for a short distance around the wrist opening thereof, said lining being integral with the sponge rubber, and a tough coat of rubber formed integrally with the rubber sponge on the outer side of the mitten at the juncture of the thumb and finger portions thereof.

6. An article of manufacture consisting of a mitten made up of porous spongy rubber with a substantially imperforate rubber lining therein.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, on this 3rd day of August, A. D. 1915.

JOSEPH ELLIS. Witnesses:

' A. J. CRANE,

CHARLES H. SEEM. 

